Before sending content, ask "can they Google it?" If yes, share your own experience instead; it shows your expertise without the pitch.
The idea
My coaching partner Lance Pendleton's secret to great marketing is one question: "Can they Google it?" Ask it right before you create anything to send. Generic tips and market stats are what most professionals send, and they're exactly what people don't connect to. Anyone can claim expertise. Your experiences are yours alone, and they already demonstrate what you know without making you sound salesy. There's a math argument too: if 90% of your business comes from people you already know or their referrals, why work so hard staying relevant to the other 10%?
How to do it
Before you send, ask: could they find this with a search?
If yes, swap it for an experience: something that happened with a client, something you saw, tried or learned firsthand.
Tell it as a story.
Keep sending some brand content for recognition, but get good at connecting over experiences.
Example
A wealth manager I know started putting his travel photos (Tokyo's streets, New Zealand's landscapes) in his monthly newsletter, and he became more than a wealth manager to the people reading it. Another client's gardening guide is what keeps people on her list and replying.
Be Worth Knowing: Share your own take and what you're into; industry jargon makes you invisible, while personality and stories make you memorable.
The Four-Week Content Model: Answer one prompt a week (work excitement, personal excitement, an experience, what clients feel) and share it to your A's, some B's and social.
Brand vs. YOU Marketing: Brand marketing builds broad awareness of what you do; YOU marketing (personal stories, gifts, birthdays) builds deep one-to-one connection. Do both.
Personal Monopoly: Find where your competence, curiosity and character overlap, and be the only person who brings that combination.